“Las maestras luchando también están enseñando!” (Teachers struggling are also teaching.)
By Kristin Ingram-Worthman
On Monday, January 14, I and thousands of other teachers in the Los Angeles Unified School District went on strike. I am grateful, humbled, and incredibly moved to see the massive amount of support we have gotten.
When I was growing up, my dad worked for several different unions; AFSCME, SEIU, the California Faculty Association, and AFTRA, to name a few. There were many times I walked with him on picket lines to demand better working conditions or support striking workers. I learned that labor solidarity is very important because it strengthens the demands of the picketers.
I have been a teacher for twenty-three years, and this is the first time I have been on strike. I saw a sign at one of the rallies that said, “Las maestras luchando también están enseñando!” (Teachers struggling are also teaching.) I would also say “Las maestras luchando también están aprendiendo.” (Teachers struggling are also learning.) I have learned another reason that labor solidarity is important. Solidarity helps those of us on strike feel stronger and more confident.
During this last week, I have seen Facebook posts from the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, other unions, and parents showing their support for teachers. People have created Facebook groups to support teachers such as Strike Ready with Tacos and Parents Supporting Teachers to coordinate and show support for striking teachers. Parents and others have brought food, coffee, and hot chocolate to the picket lines. Parents and students have marched on picket lines and attended rallies alongside their teachers. A student wrote a song in support of teachers which she posted on Facebook.
As I was driving to work on the first day of the strike, I was pretty anxious. I have no idea how long the strike will last. I knew it would be hard to face the students as they walked past me to go to school, and it would be hard to be away from them during the school day. But the solidarity that I experienced helped make those feelings disappear.
At my school last week, there were parents and students as young as transitional kindergarten picketing with the teachers. Parents brought food and coffee. SEIU Local 99, the union that represents the teachers’ assistants and the cafeteria workers had a one-day sympathy strike to support us. On other days, some local 99 members also picketed with the teachers before and after their assignments.
Last week was rainy and cold, and our picketing schedule was pretty demanding. We picketed for two hours at our school, took the Metrorail downtown for rallies in downtown Los Angeles, then rode the Metrorail back to school to picket again for another two hours at the end of the school day. It was wonderful and uplifting to be on the subway and at the rallies with so many other teachers and supporters. We chanted and sang songs, when we got back to school in the afternoons, we listened to music and danced as we waited for the students to be dismissed so we could picket again. This solidarity with each other was also so uplifting.
Last week I and several teachers had a conversation with a parent who tearfully apologized for sending her child to school and not walking with teachers on the picket line. She explained that she had to go to work and kept saying she didn’t understand how the school board could cause teachers to go on strike. We thanked her for her support and asked her to keep sending her child to school.
When this strike is over, and the teachers have won a fair contract, it will not just be a victory for the teachers and students. This victory will belong to everyone who has posted something on social media in support of teachers, everyone who has brought coffee or food to a school site, everyone who has honked their horn while driving by striking teachers, and everyone who has gone out of their way to support us.
Links:
Tacos For Teachers on Twitter
Taco For Teachers (GoFundMe)